Congressman King says shut-down impact on economy minor compared to damage from “ObamaCare”

Republican Congressman Steve King says the president’s Affordable Care Act will be a far greater damper on the U.S. economy than any government shut-down.

“We would recover from that, that inconvenience, from the tension of it all, from the uncertainty. We will recover from that, but we will never recover from the implementation of ObamaCare,” King says. “This is an important principle and every Republican in the House and Senate has rejected ObamaCare and now we’re getting Democrats to cross the line, however small their numbers might be.”

This past weekend two of the 200 Democrats in the U.S. House joined with House Republicans to vote for a one-year delay of the Affordable Care Act. Senate Democrats and President Obama say the House G-O-P’s plan is unacceptable. King, who is from Kiron, faults the president and the Democratic leader of the Senate for failing to negotiate with Republicans.

“We’re very, very close to a government shut-down,” King says. “I didn’t think so yesterday. I thought something would break, but the closer we get now (to October 1) the greater the odds are.”

Iowa’s other Republican congressman, Tom Latham of Clive, says Americans “want a government that stays open and they want protection from the harmful impacts of Obamacare.” Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Bruce Braley of Waterloo faults Republicans for “political brinksmanship and hostage-taking.” Dave Loebsack of Iowa City, the state’s other Democratic congressman, says Republicans have put “politics before the basic work Iowans expect Congress to get done.”